Capri 22 - Going up the mast?

[pdxjohnny]

Hey all,
Last week I took the Capri 22 out and flew the spinnaker for the first time. It was a real blast and a treat getting to put it up. Unfortunately when we got back to the dock, after releasing the spinnaker halyard the sail didn't drop. We spent 30-40 minutes un-snagging the spinnaker sleeve, which got caught on something way up top, near where the forestay meets the mast. We ended up shaking it and the jib halyard like mad until it released, but I have no idea what it snagged on.

Also, I need to replace the bulb in the mast light. It's one of these: Steaming & Halogen Deck Light 99-> and replace the electrical fitting on the deck. Whatever. Should I drop the mast to do this or should I devise a plan to figure out how to go up the mast when I need to? Is it safe to go up the mast on such a small boat? I figure my 175 lbs running up a 30' mast should make the boat a bit dicy to be on and we'll need to be WELL tied down to the dock.

Advice from the experienced folks around here appreciated. Cheers

 

[shemandr]

The only time I was subjected to a spinnaker sleeve it was more or less the same. I'd lose it. It's not that big of a sail. I've known single handed sailors who fly a spinnaker on 23' boats with few problems. It's all about presets.
Regarding climbing the mast: I'm sure you can devise a safe way but I wouldn't do it at my 235 weight. Someone with better arithmetic skills could probably figure the moment of 175 lbs. at 35' feet above the keel. That number compared to the the keels righting moment should give a gage of how much risk there is. Like I said I wouldn't do it but I wouldn't climb any mast so ...

 

[Gene Neill]

I wouldn't hesitate to climb the stick, but it's easier to just drop it. Unless you are really super athletic, or happen to own climbing gear.

 

[AaronD]

My $.02 - as a software geek, and thus completely unqualified as a mechanical engineer

I own climbing gear, and I’d be comfortable going up the stick on a 35 footer, but not on a Capri 22.

Think of two twisting forces opposing each other - your weight on the mast is trying to tilt the boat sideways, and the keel is trying to tilt it upright. (Capri 22 specs from sailboatdata)

Keel first: Rated ballast 750 lbs and a 4-ft draft (fin keel). 750 lbs * 4 ft = 3000 lb-ft torque. In reality, the weight isn’t _all_ at the very tip of the keel (and a wing keel would be shallower than 4 ft). So somewhat less than 3k. But, there’s some amount of form stability too (albeit not an awful lot in these relatively round hulls). Those two might roughly cancel out? It seems to me that 3k is a reasonable order-of-magnitude guess. And yes, the rotation isn't strictly at the waterline, but probably close enough.

Now the mast-monkey: I’m a 150-lb lightweight, so call it 175 with clothes and tools. The mast is ~30’; I = 25, P = 26, and they’re offset by a bit; call it ~32’ off the waterline). 175 lbs x 32 ft = 5600 lb-ft. In reality, your center of gravity won’t be at the top of the mast, so somewhat less. But still - it seems it could be considerably more than the righting moment.

Everything will be fine as long as you’re centered perfectly over the midline… But if you lean the wrong way when a wake comes along…

I say drop the mast.

 

[dlochner]

The mast is small and relatively light. Drop the mast do the repairs and put it back up. J24 sailors do this all he time.

 

[pdxjohnny]

Thanks all. I’ll bring dow the mast. It’s a tall rig and we suffered to get it up last time. I’ll devise something to make it easier. Appreciate the thoughtful responses

 

[DeniseO30]

Look into using a gin pole
This guy uses the main sheet instead of a winch.
some people use the boom as a gin pole some people use a aluminum tube gin Pole

 

[ambler]

I agree with AaronD's calculations. I came to the same conclusion. The 550lb keel at 5feet (average less) was no match for my 150lbs 25ft.up. I tied up alongside my friend's larger boat, climbed his mast and pulled mine over to work on it.

My jib halyard once got stuck. My wire halyard jumped the sheeve (pully) and jammed in the gap between the sheeve and the mast head casting.

 

[shemandr]

Look into using a gin pole
This guy uses the main sheet instead of a winch.
some people use the boom as a gin pole some people use a aluminum tube gin Pole

This worked pretty well. I wonder if it would be worthwhile to use a ratchet block on that mainsheet system for lowering the mast. It would be more controlled. If fact I might use a dedicated block system and could probably downsize the tackle some. That looks to be a pretty light mast.
I used to just grab the mast and push it up on my Bandit 15 while walking it forward. Attach the forestay and I was ready for the boom.